Sued by LVNV, Midland Funding, or Portfolio Recovery Associates?
Sued by LVNV, Midland Funding, or Portfolio Recovery Associates?
These three debt buyers (debt collectors) file the majority of the collection lawsuits in Alabama. They also rarely, if ever, can or will prove their case when they are faced with either a knowledgeable consumer or consumer lawyer.
Why?
There are a few reasons.
Most importantly, they (Midland, LVNV, etc.) have trouble proving that they own the debt and that you owe the debt.
Let me explain.
When a debt buyer buys a debt, the original creditor normally puts in the purchase agreement — the contract selling the debts — that there is no representation made that the records are accurate and that the consumers actually owe the amounts listed.
So the first debt buyer really doesn’t know the accuracy.
When the first debt buyer sells the debts to a second debt buyer, the first debt buyer can’t promise any greater accuracy than the original creditor promised to the first debt buyer.
So the debt buyer that sues you will often struggle to prove the accuracy of its records.
Then the debt buyer typically has decided not to spend any time or effort or money to actually come up with evidence to prove its case. This is a business decision.
Think about this — you have been sued but now the debt buyer/debt collector will not prove its case?
Crazy….
OK, so what’s the big deal about this?
This means you don’t owe the debt to the debt buyer.
The debt buyer must get this account off of your credit report if the debt buyer is reporting it.
The debt collector can’t sell or transfer or assign the account to any other collector because there is nothing to the account — remember if you win it means you don’t owe the debt.
We see lots of violations of the law (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act — FDCPA) when collectors do what we just talked about.
But also suing you with no intent to prove its case is a violation of the FDCPA.
Most folks recognize there are too many lawsuits. Or stated more accurately there are too many frivolous baseless lawsuits.
These lawsuits clog up the courts, cost unnecessary money in attorney fees, bogus judgments, and extorted settlements.
The biggest, by far, source of these inappropriate lawsuits?
The debt buyer lawsuits by the leaders such as LVNV, Midland Funding, and Portfolio Recovery Associates.
If you have faced this in Alabama, then learn about your rights.
Sit down with a lawyer to find out in your particular circumstances if you have the right to sue the debt buyer for filing a bogus lawsuit against you.
This is the only way that they will change — when it becomes unprofitable to continue to flood our courts with bogus suits.
Contact Us.
If you have any questions, give us a call at 1-205-879-2447.
Or fill out a contact form and we will get in touch with you as soon as we can.
I look forward to chatting with you!
Have a great day.
Midland funding & the others are in the sleaziest business operation one could imagine.
Scott,
Not all collectors are sleazy but there are certainly a lot that give the industry a bad name. Midland tends to file bogus “shakedown” lawsuits that are designed to scare people into paying when Midland has no right to collect and no intention to even attempt to prove its cases.
I saw your site about Midland — do keep in mind on a class action under the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act) that you can’t get $1000 per person unlimited. Instead, the maximum limit on a class action is $500,000 under the FDCPA.
Several options.
If good cases, file them individually. If hundreds and thousands of people will do this, it will get the attention of these companies.
Also, if cases are filed as class actions, they should be filed on a state by state or district by district (most states have several districts for federal court) so that each one can get up to $500,000. There is also a net worth test but for Midland/Encore this normally won’t be a problem.
Thanks for your comment!
John Watts
Birmingham, Alabama
I’ve sent several e-mails to you involving an upcoming case that Midland is filing against me with no response. I sent them a letter in mid-July asking for verification of the debt as you suggested on this website, with certified signed receipt returned back to me. They have yet to send me this requested information back. Will this be enough evidence to hold up in court to have the case thrown out?
Can you call my office at 205-879-2447? I don’t recall receiving the emails you mentioned.
About the certified mail and lack of verification — if you are in Alabama normally this is not required but it certainly helps you when the collection lawyer tells the judge he or she had no idea you don’t think you owe the debt.
But give us a call and let’s chat about this.
Thanks and sorry if we missed your emails.
John Watts
this website was very helpful it is more information here than i thought lawyers would give you without being payed so thank you very much
You are welcome — we are doing our best to get useful information out there so people will not have judgments from bogus debt collection lawsuits.
Thanks for your comment
John Watts
Question. My husband received a call from a debt collector on an account that was from April 2007. What are the statue of limitations on them collecting on this account in Alabama. Citifiancial Retail Services orginaly had the account.
Heather,
To figure out the SOL we look at when the payments were missed and also what the contract says — it sometimes will say the laws of another state will apply.
If we stopped paying on this in April 2007, then it should be beyond the SOL which is, at most, 6 years in Alabama.
Often collection agencies will threaten to sue when it is too late or they will make other violations of the law (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act).
Also, depending on whether your husband was called on home or cell phone, and whether he gave that number to the original creditor (Citifinancial) there may be violations of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
If you want, give us a call at 205-879-2447 and ask to speak to Randi or Carolyn and they can get some basic information and then set up a call or meeting with you and your husband and me.
Be glad to help and thanks for visiting our site!
John Watts
Birmingham, Alabama
I received a summons today from Holloway and Moxley for an account that Midland Funding purchased from GE Rooms 2 Go in 10/2011. I am wondering what if anything I might be able to do. The debt is mine and I was young and dumb when granted the credit for my purchase. Does the SOL of 3 years for Alabama mean the original account or does the time start fresh when a debt buyer purchases it from the original creditor? Thank you in advance for any information.
Amber,
I saw this pop up as I was leaving to go out of town so quick reply.
The debt to GE might be yours but that is completely separate from whether you owe Midland Funding.
Midland Funding has to PROVE it owns the debt — something it struggles with, at least in the several hundred cases I’ve had with them.
The 3 year SOL is from when you defaulted on the original debt. Whether it is sold once or a dozen times does not change the time period. Sometimes the debt collectors like to suggest it does but it does not.
Here’s my suggestion — contact my office on Monday at 205-879-2447 and ask for Carolyn. She’ll look up your case and then set up a call so we can go over your options.
You will have several good options and you have done the most important thing — not giving up. Most do — you haven’t as you are looking for information. This is very good and means you will very likely be successful in whichever direction you go on this case.
I’ll also ask Carolyn to email you directly.
Best wishes
John Watts
Birmingham, Alabama
I received a summons from Midland, but there is no information as to who they bought the debt from. It just has an amount on it. In my response I stated that with out an account number or anything to reference I have no idea who they are or how they claim I owe them. I received my court date, and was wondering do I send Mr. Mosley a letter to request the information. Not sure how to proceed.
Joe,
Typically the Midland lawsuits don’t have much information on them.
You can send Richard Moxley a letter asking for information and he may send it to you.
You also can go to court and see if they prove their case then — they have to prove they own the debt.
If you would like to go over your options, I’ll be glad to do that with you. Call Carolyn at 205-879-2447 and she’ll set us up a call or meeting for us to discuss your options.
Thanks!
John Watts
Midland have been calling and harassing me so I had to change my number.
Charlessa,
Sorry to hear about this. Was the number a land line or a cell phone?
You should be getting letters from Midland — I suggest keeping those letters.
Give us a call and we’ll be glad to help you see your options dealing with Midland whether it is before they sue you or even if they have sued you.
Thanks for your comment and we’ll enjoy chatting with you soon.
John Watts
205-879-2447
I received a pre-legal notification from Atlantic Credit & Finance Incorporated stating that they are informing me that Midland Funding, LLC is considering forwarding my account to any attorney in my state for possible litigation. The letter says current owner Midland Funding LLC; Current Servicer Midland Credit Management, Inc. But the letter is from Atlantic Credit & Finance Incorporated. So debt collection agencies represent each other? I need help in what I should do. They are not the original creditor.
Thanks.
Tanya,
It is a bit odd but I assume this is what is happening.
Midland Funding claims it owns the debt. (Big difference in claiming and proving though!)
So if any lawsuit is filed in Alabama, it will be by Moxley & Associates representing Midland Funding.
Midland Credit Management is a “sister company” to Midland Funding and it does most of the collection activities (other than suing). But sometimes they farm it out to other collectors such as Atlantic Credit & Finance.
So I would take this very seriously and consider sending a dispute letter to Atlantic and also to Midland (both Funding and Credit Management).
You likely will hear from Moxley & Associates soon — I’m assuming you are in Alabama.
Feel free to give us a call if you want some thoughts on what to do.
Hope this helps — understand this can be confusing with all these companies claiming to represent each other.
John Watts
205-879-2447